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13 Readying, 591 CY, Ralsand
The day broke clear and seasonably warm. Ralsand spread out from the confluence of the Harp Rivers. A ferry was operating to cross the river to the south. At the northern edge of the town, a winter camp spread out for the Knight Protectors of the Great Kingdom. They mixed freely with the famous Blue-Liveried Cavalry of Ralsand, who were permanently garrisoned here. We were quartered at the Twin Harps waiting for the arrival of our friends, who should be arriving later today.
Oliver and Galen headed out early and found a church dedicated to Olidammara. Inside a crowd of revelers were celebrating the mysteries of their faith: dancing, singing and smoking strange smelling substances. Oliver searched out the head priest, a man who should have some power over the mysteries of his god. We introduced ourselves and asked for private counsel. He told us his name was Justavin and we launched into a "theoretical" story of lycanthropy in a group of friends. Justavin respected our thinly veiled tale and spoke in suppositions as well. "Supposing you knew someone who was infected, your best option is to kill the infected party." We told him that this wasn't an option, theoretically, what else could we do? He must have thought this subterfuge was funny, but the topic was as far from funny as one can get. He told us that the Prince of the city, Francenn, was a skilled diviner and would have a better insight as to what to do. He offered to arrange a meeting between the Prince and the two of us. We thanked him and on the way out, Galen inquired about the strange smoke in the temple. Justavin offered him a packet of black powder and told him it was "holy smoke".
DM: There was ado about this "Holy Smoke" and quite a bit of confusion too. I still don't think Galen quite understood what Justavin was telling him… more on this below.
Meanwhile, Cedric had been busy as well. He'd gone to a weaponsmith and commissioned a silver headed morning star, in hopes that it may prove effective in damaging the were-ravens. Oliver also checked at the constabulary for any leads on Goldwhite, and to check if there were any rewards for her capture. The constable told him that in Innspa, a ten thousand! Ivid reward was offered.
Isaac and Darcius arrived in town after midday. They went straight to the blacksmith and ordered two sets of manacles and other accoutrements to hold them when they transformed into the ravening beasts of night. They then proceeded to the inn and hooked up with the rest of us.
We took a private dining room and ate dinner while making plans for our next move. First off we discussed cures. Belladonna was mentioned, but no one knew where we could get it from. Next thing, Galen also indicated that injury or anger could trigger the transformation, as well as the full moon. That was not good news. At this point, Oliver 'mentioned' that he had arranged a meeting with Francenn. The group took this news in stride, and Galen and Oliver were nominated as spokesmen. Everyone else was told not to be at the inn when we went, just in case they were rounded up by the Prince. Other ideas included a cage to hold the were ravens, and a system of slip-knotted snares to hold them. Both were dismissed as flights of fancy.
DM: The cage idea was actually a good one, problem was it would be to unwieldly to move around, and would likely cost a lot to make. Personally, I thought the slip knot idea was just weird, but the party gave it up anyways.
14 Readying, 581 CY, Ralsand
A courtier came to the inn in the morning, telling us to arrive at Francenn's tower after lunch. Everyone was reminded not to be AT the inn while we were gone, just in case and Oliver left to pick up Galen at the temple of Olidammara. We went to the tower and were admitted by the first dwarf either of us had ever seen. He led us into the tower and rang the bell to summon the Prince.
Our first impression of the Prince was that he was a fop, though it became apparent that he was merely attempting to put us off guard. He offered wine and played music on a magic harpsichord. Galen eventually cut to the chase and related the reason for our travel to Rel Deven and our mission to talk to the Eldritch Lord, Ilgrar. He also 'mentioned' that we'd run across bird-men, and were worried that they might have infected some folks in our home town. Now, it was Francenn's turn to cut to the chase. He suggested that if there were were-ravens in his town, maybe two of them, he would feel obligated to destroy them. Galen said he was interested in a cure rather than destroying these people, and Francenn said he was willing to play ball, for a price. Francenn metioned that one of his guardsmen was infected with lycanthropy and he has been working on a cure for him. But he could not say he was certain of a cure and would have to see the infected individuals and run a test on them to be sure.
We headed back to collect everyone and told them what had gone down. Isaac insisted we not mess around and just go ahead, and we all agreed. During our visit Cedric had tried a divination of his own to detect the lycanthropy and received proof positive that the two people we know were infected truly were. Only Isaac and Darcius tested positive. We made ready to go the next day.
15 Readying, 581 CY, Ralsand
The group of us, minus Ryvvik, allowed Cedric to cast his divination spell and examine us. Only Darcius and Isaac detected positive, as previously mentioned. Ryvvik was absent and it caused some anger, as he refused to be examined by Cedric's magic, claiming he could do it himself. Oliver was mighty peeved and made it known vociferously and repeatedly. Between Ryvvik not explaining himself and Oliver blowing up every time Ryvvik tried to say anything, we were at loggerheads. We went to the tower, and met Darcius, who had left when the fur started flying. We were admitted as a group and introduced to Francenn, who proceeded efficiently to his lab in the basement where he had a magic cage that could contain the were creatures, should they transform. He had a method of divining the curse that he would do for free, that way he could figure out what he had to do and how much it would cost. Isaac volunteered to go first. In the cage, Francenn subjected him to a lightning bolt that expressed his curse. He raged inside the magic cage for a bit then Francenn forced him back to human form with an incantation. Isaac was sent back up and everyone took their turn. Darcius raged, of course, and everyone else did not transform. Oliver was still mad and was trying to see what was going on downstairs. Ryvvik tried to warn him not to do it, because magic is very dangerous if interrupted. Oliver snapped and freaked out again on Ryvvik and said some words in haste, torn between loyalty to his friends and his personal grudge against Ryvvik.
DM: This was the first bit of inter-party strain that has manifested with this group. While I think some of the parties at odds had legitamite greivances I was glad to see that the group was mature enough to solve it on their own and not let in game disagreements become out of character hostilities.
After a couple of hours, Francenn came upstairs and reported that of all of us, only Darcius, Isaac and Angele were infected with the disease. Angele was still in the first stage of the disease, while Darcius and Isaac were in stage two.
From the Journal of Prince Francenn of Ralsand:
"… I had thought at first that what I was dealing with was nothing more than lycanthropy, I don't mean to marginalize the curse of the animal spirits, but it is an affliction that I have been investigating for some time and I had thought that I was merely dealing with an avian variety of the curse. That being the case I had begun by trying to draw the beast out of the subject using a low level attack spell that I have modified to cause great pain, a condition that I have learned causes the beastial spirit to emerge and metamorphose the body.
The body had changed into an avian hybrid as I had expected, the creature was a head smaller than the original body and feathers were a coarse black mass, I have procured a sample for further analysis. The feet had altered into a pair of claws with night black talons that looked very sharp. The arms had become all but usesless as such, but had transformed into a pair of wings that easily spaned the cage it was imprisoned in. The head had become almost entirely raven like and a massive beak had grown out of the face, it looked very sharp, more like a weapon than anything else.
All of this was as I had expected, more or less, until I began to divine the nature of the spirit. I expected to see the combination of animal and human in an almost inseperable union, as per typical lycanthropy. To my surprise I saw no sign of humanity, only beast and something else that I found most disturbing. There was an evil presence within the form that seemed to be influencing the animal. Further divinations revealed that this was not a typical case of lycanthropy I was dealing with but a specifically engineered curse that links the afflicted with an outside entity. The nature of this entity eluded me for a time until I use an conjuration that put me in contact with an astral daemon. Dangerous though it was to risk my sanity so I did learn that the nature of this being that is somehow linked to this lycanthropy is an outsider, from the abyss between stars.
Further experimentation and divination revelaed that someone or something had altered the curse of lycanthropy so as to act as a conduit between this Oerth and the endless Abyss. Once infected within a mortal body the conduit would seek out a entity from this Abyss and allow the entity to slowly begin to possess the mortal soul. I am not positive the last part is correct for the sources I had to contact spoke no oerthly tongue and I had to translate it as best I could. Either way each time the animal spirit is allowed to take control of the body the entity will be able to exert a little more power over the body until it is finally able to control it completely and manifest fully upon the Oerth.
I could find not feasable way to cure this curse since the Abyssal entity seems to prevent normal cures from being successful. I would surmise that the abyssal entity needs to be convinced to abandon the taget, either through force or some other means, before tradition lycanthropy cures will work. The only other process may be to seekout the being that concocted this curse and force it to remove the curse. The problem is I cannot conceive of how this being has altered the curse of lycanthropy, which would lead me to guess that it is either learned in arts that I am not, possessing of knowledge that I cannot fathom, or, the one I fear, is tremendously powerful…"
Stage 1: Infection/Incubation (at this stage the affliction is the closest to lycanthopy, and has yet to contact an outsider.
Stage 2: Transformation at full moon, or due to injury (the curse is now uncureable as long as the outsider maintains a link to the host)
Stage 3: 12 lunar cycles (1 year or so) or quicker if forced to transform more often. At this stage, the host is lost. Possessed? Imprisioned? Devoured?At this stage, the curse is incurable, and the beast takes over.
Francenn told us there was good news and bad news. The good news was that our friends did not have lycanthropy, strictly. While the symptoms mimicked the lunar curse, it was something else altogether. The bad news was that they had been cursed and possessed by an extraplanar demon. Francenn said that having done this, he was in a position to find a cure, and that was where the cost would be incurred.
Francenn's
Deal:
He wants us to go to Oldridge and penetrate the tower of a mage known as Bigby.
He says it was abandoned when Bigby was chased out of Aerdi by the Overking's
troops. Francenn wants us to go there and find the library, where an extraplanar
rift (all this extraplanar stuff is making me
think that this guy doesn't know what it means) would
lead to a secret library. In this secret library, we would find a book called
"The Surreptitious Road" that Bigby had asked Francenn to get for
him. Apparently with this book, even more of the secrets of Bigby's tower would
be opened. Oliver was suspicious of Francenn's ultimate motive, (but
hey, Oliver is suspicious of everyone these days.) and
made sure that Francenn worded the agreement with some certainty. We agreed
in the end, seeing no other alternative.
He gave us a handful of scrolls that purportedly forced shapechangers back to their original form and two scrolls he called "Francenn's Portal Key" that would simulate the conditions required to open the rift in Bigby's library. As well, he mentioned that Veyhol, Prince of Oldridge would take a cut of anything we'd remove from the tower and that we could not give Veyhol the book. To help us out, he gave us a large sack that would produce whatever you put in it, just by thinking of it.
DM: He actually let the party scribe the Force Shapechange spell (Though Ryvvik is too low level right now he still has the scroll). He asked that they do not copy his portal Key spell though, since it took him a great deal of time to develop it.
16 Readying, 581 CY, Road to Oldridge
Back at the inn, we gathered our gear and headed out to the ferry. Luckily, we had an actual paved road to travel on, and we dragged our sleds of armor with us to sell in Oldridge. Galen told us that the road was called the Darwinian Road (sp?)(if spelled right, I don't like what that implies) and Ryvvik mentioned that a magick was used to ensure it didn't deteriorate or get covered in snow. We passed the first two toll booths with little fanfare, merely paying the one noble toll per person. Unfortunately for us, I suppose, the third tollbooth and the last before Oldridge housed a different sort of wardens. They took one look at us and decided it would be fun to extort more than the usual toll, and take all our scale armor we'd been hauling since Tarrentch as payment. Isaac was going to pay it to avoid trouble but everyone else caught up as he and Darcius were stacking it on the road. Protests ensued and the guard sergeant caught wind that Isaac was a sheriff. He thought it might be funny to challenge Isaac to single combat. If Isaac won, we'd go on without paying toll, if the sergeant won, we'd leave the armor behind and carry on. The terms were accepted and while their leader was congratulating himself Isaac dealt him a surprise smack with his club. Swords were drawn and battle joined. We covered the other guards and watched the fight. Isaac was wounded a few times and suddenly, wouldn't you know it? Were-raven time! He transformed and ripped the face off the guard sergeant and dove after the next closest target, Cedric. We scattered, hoping to save ourselves. Ryvvik began casting spells off the scrolls to force Isaac back to human form, but nothing happened the first two times. Third times the charm though, and we ended the threat with only Galen being wounded by the bird-man. There were three dead guardsman, three bound and gagged guards and two escaped. We put all the corpses in the guard shack and lit it on fire.
DM: The scrolls are supposed to force a target into it's natural form but a will save will negate the effect. Isaac, being a fighter, has a poor will save, so you would think it would be easy to change him back. Well after a few 18's to save the party finally forced him back. One small encounter, 3 of 5 used scrolls. Things did not look good.
We figured that the two escapees would head as quickly as possible to Oldridge and alert the authorities of our murdering ways. Or rather, that charges of murder would likely be leveled at us, despite defending ourselves. It was decided that we should force march through the rest of the day and into the evening to reach Oldridge before a posse was formed and sent out after us. We supposed that the last place they'd look for us is in the town itself. We split into a few groups and entered the town separately, eventually getting rooms without raising an alarm.
17 Readying, 581 CY, Oldridge
The morning came without any alarms and we started checking around to see if our actions the day before had been noticed. The closest thing we heard was that a strange beast had killed toll guards and they were sending soldiers to investigate. No mention of our group, so we met as planned beforehand. Everybody went shopping for things we'd never seen available in the north. Ryvvik traded his horse for an Oeridian Shepherd dog, completing the outfit with padded armor for the dog. He decided to name it Ma'Corth, which is old Oeridian for "Magic". Darcius went to the smith's to see if the proprieter might be interested in purchasing any of our loot. Seeing that the smith was a dwarf named Xarg Blackforge, he pulled out a set of scrolls he'd taken from the library of Delcouth that detailed an advanced method of smithing. In exchange for a copy of the scroll and a promise that Darcius would not give this information to anyone else, the smith allowed Darcius to have a look at his "special" wares. Darcius took a look, but couldn't afford the asking price. The smith smiled, knowing well the limitations of the purse, and told him he was always welcome back, and would always have access to the special room. They parted in fine fashion, both happy with the exchange.
DM: The Dwarf had access to a special black metal that seemed to soak up magic like a sponge soaks water. He knows special techniques to coax the magic to useful ends, and will sell it to those he favours for a high price.
We also joined the mercenary guild, in order to maintain the appearance of innocent travellers, and to throw off pursuit in Oldridge. Ryvvik and Isaac went gadding about, talking about an expedition to the tower of Bigby, and generally making a scene. Ryvvik posed as a rich man, Isaac as his servant, and they made inquiry at the guild, and hired us (the rest of us). We also found out that Prince Veyhol is the head of the Mercenary guild, and a member. He likes to party in town with the rest of his crew. That makes him one of the coolest prince's I've ever heard of...
18-19 Readying, 581 CY, Oldridge
We found out that Baalzites have taken up residence in the tower. This puts a kink in our plans. Now we have to figure out how many people we face and how we're going to get by this new stumbling block. Oliver went up to the tower and was confronted by a rather large mastiff. As in, small pony sized. And there was a warrior there as well, he was also very large, as in, large man-sized. And he was armored and heavily armed. Oliver annoyed them enough that a woman came out with another mastiff, and she was dressed in the robes of Baalzy. She had a shaved head and looked a lot like every other priest of Baalzy we'd seen. She said she owned the tower now, and Oliver was trespassing and he should leave now. The dogs were looking mighty mean at this point, and Oliver took his leave quickly. He judged that to be the extent of the inhabitants of the tower.
DM: It is interesting to notice that as soon as the party encounters someone a who doesn't appreciate their presence they immediately try to figure out the best way to kill them. Maybe I am to blame for giving off the impression that this had to be a combat encounter.
20 Readying, 581 CY, Oldridge
Our battle plan was simple. We'd bait the dogs with poisoned meat, and then try and sneak in. Our alternate plan was to charge headlong. As usual, the plan didn't stand up to contact with the enemy. First off, the meat wasn't poisoned, but it drew the dog close enough for Isaac to put an arrow in it. When it was hit it ran yelping, which alerted the tower inhabitants. The man came outside long enough to see us charging up the steep hill, then retreated into the building, likely warning everyone else inside. Oliver and Darcius vaulted up into the window, diverting the attention of the defenders from the front door. At this time, Angele charged straight in, and engaged the mercenary in combat. The priestess began backing up the stairs and started casting defensive spells. The dogs were overmatched, and not factors for the next while. Angele was knocked out, and shortly after that we put the mercenary to the sword. The priestess blasted away at us with all manner of fire spells, including a roiling jet of flame that followed it's target and caused incredible burns to anyone in it's way. Ryvvik countered with a flaming sphere that flew about the room, chasing the priestess up the stairs. We gave chase up onto the second floor, where one of the dogs had been hiding. She blasted Oliver with that following flame spell, it sure was a "scorcher". Oliver leapt off the stairs to flee and this saved him from the worst effects of the spell. Galen eventually tumbled past her and stopped her retreat, while Cedric closed in and smacked her solidly with his mace, which resulted in her falling about 10 feet to land on her head. We guessed she was dead.
DM: Well as they say, the first casualty of any battle is the plan… and the second casualty is Angele… (or Darcius)
21 Readying, 581 CY, Oldridge
We found a map in the collected belongings of the Baalzite. It detailed the lower levels of the tower. This truend out to be a real timesaver, as it even detailed the library we had to get to. We rested for the day, trying to bring Angele back to fighting trim.
22 Readying, 581 CY, Oldridge
It was around midnight when we finally got our shit together and headed down to the library. On our way we passed through a door marked with a glowing symbol of Baalzy. We had to force it open. Ryvvik used a wand to vanquish the magic spell holding it closed and Oliver shoved it open with a ten foot pole he'd grabbed from upstairs. Behind the door was an anteroom, and when we entered it, all light was extinguished. In the interminable blackness we all sensed that there was another presence in the darkness, and a bass voice rumbled, "Not the one." and then the lights came back. We all looked at each other for a moment and quickly exited the room. Every door we came across was pushed open with a ten foot pole.
DM: Here is the full description of this environment, just in case it is needed later:
You enter into the room and see the centre of the tower has been walled off except for a single stone door. As you examine this you are suddenly seized by an intense fear, the likes of which you can only imagine. The room goes dark, as if your light source had gone out, and you are completely unable to move. You feel eyes on you in the darkness, the sensation of being watched is so intense it hurts the back of your head. For an agonizing aeon this seems to last, your heart caught in your throat, you unable to breath, untill you feel the words "NOT THE ONE" spoken by something in the dark of your mind. Suddenly, without missing a beat, the light has returned and you are released from whatever had you in it's death grip.
Following the map, we finally made it to the library, which was empty except for rotting shelves and a statue dedicated to Boccob. Angele, Ryvvik and Cedric all peered into the ether and saw a slash in the fabric of reality. Ryvvik pulled out one of Francenn's scroll and chanted the magic words printed upon it. Immediately, a pale blue doorway stretched out in front of the statue and gently rippled, beckoning us to enter. As we entered, one at a time, it seemed as though we were pushing our way through some kind of jello-like substance.
